Outdoor Speakers for Your Oasis – Know the Facts

All outdoor speakers generally have a protective seal on the diffuser, connectors, and wiring to protect them from outdoor elements such as dirt and moisture. Many people believe that a diffuser when “weather sealed,” has a weaker sound quality than a home stereo system. This statement is not accurate since:

The speakers are the proper frequency to compensate the shell.

Your brain will enjoy the sound experience from the external speakers as it mixes with ambient sounds, providing a frequency range as wide as your home’s hi-fi stereo.

Outdoor speakers are specially designed to provide excellent sound in an open environment without reflective walls. If you use standard indoor house speakers outdoors they will not sound as good as speakers designed specifically for outdoor use.

Some rugged external speakers are specially made to blend in with the environment. Another type is the hollowed-out 2-way or 3-way speaker, which is water resistant and as good as a boat in your yard. And then, there is the middle ground; rugged speakers designed to “decorate” the garden, but still, provide excellent sound quality.

So, What Do We Recommend?

With years of building swimming pools, we recommend to our clients the TruAudio™ speaker system. These speakers blend seamlessly in with outdoor environments, minimizing visual impact and maximizing sound performance. Its premium components result in a complete, natural and clear sound for superior performance that is not matched by the competition.

The Acousticape™ Series

If you are looking to bring a new dimension to outdoor audio, TruAudio’s Acoustiscape speakers are the answer. They are available in 4.5 inches and 6 inches in size.

The Acoustiscape provides a rich sound with unbelievable amounts of volume. These outdoor speakers also blend nicely into your landscape. Versatile mounting options, robust design, and weatherproof quality make the Acoustiscape perfect for any outdoor installation and use.

The Acoustiscape™ 4.5

The Acoustiscape™ 6.5

The Acoustiscape™ 6.5-inch model also has a polypropylene woofer, but with a one-inch silk soft dome tweeter encapsulated in a stylish, non-corrosive sealed enclosure.

For both the 4.5 and 6.5-inch model, you can do transfers from 100 volts or 70 volts to 8Ω with a simple switch. These outdoor speakers come with 14” metal ground stakes, and optional wall mounting brackets. With the Acoustiscape’s™ unique mounting design and wide range of motion, you can position the speakers to get sound precisely where you want it to be heard.

The Subterrain™ Series

TruAudio’s Sub Terrain subwoofers are designed to do provide rich deep base to an outdoor sound system – while being discreetly buried in the ground. Adding this subwoofer to your outdoor sound system creates a high quality sound system to any landscape.

There are two subwoofer models to choose from:

ST-SUB-10.2 Underground Subwoofer

The ST-SUB-10.2 Underground Subwoofer 10-inch has an injected 10” polypropylene woofer. The item holds up to 250 watts, an impedance of 4 Ω, a frequency response of 40 – 80k Hz (+/- 3dB) 88 dB. The enclosure is a fiberglass reinforced plastic measuring 18.9” long, 16.5” wide, and 28.7” depth. Also included is a cable port for connecting speakers and amplifier.

Deeper Bass – explicitly tuned for its Bandpass enclosure and adequately balanced to enhance the performance of 10” injected poly driver for deep, rumbling bass with Balanced Dual Air Chambers.

Greater Sound Dispersion – the Exclusive Soft Curve Cap directs the sound throughout the surrounding area. It doesn’t go back into the ground like other underground subwoofers, providing a 2,500+ square foot omnidirectional sound.

Smaller Footprint – with less than 19 inches long, you can enjoy big, booming sound with the smallest landscape footprint in the industry.

ST-SUB-12.2 Underground Subwoofer

The ST-SUB-12.2 Underground Subwoofer has a 12-inch polypropylene woofer. The item holds up to 500 watts of power, an impedance of 4 Ω or 70 volts, a frequency response of 28 – 90k Hz (+/- 3dB) and a sensitivity 88 dB. The enclosure is a fiberglass reinforced plastic measuring 18.9” long, 16.5” wide, and 28.7” depth. Also included is a cable port for connecting speakers and amplifier.

All TruAudio’s equipment provides a 5-year warranty in parts and service.

An Amp to Make It Work

You cannot have an outdoor speaker system without the amplifier. In this case, we do recommend the Crown – Harman CDi1000. This series model is a professional amplifier designed and built for installed sound applications. The item is lightweight and rugged.

The CDi1000 provides:

Two channels

4 volts of sensitivity for full rated power at 8 ohms.

A rated power output of 500 watts per channel at 4 ohms.

Signal to Noise ratio of 100db, below rated 1kHz power at 8 ohms.

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of <0.5%

The damping factor of >500

Frequency response of +0 dB, -1 dB

The input impedance of 20k ohms balanced, 10k ohms unbalanced

Other advantages of the Crown CDi100 include a switch-mode universal power supply; intuitive front-panel LCD screen for quick, easy configuration; onboard digital signal processing that includes crossovers, EQ filters, delay and output limiting. Last but not least, the amp has a DSP available, up to 20 user-defined presets.

Contrary to the 5-year warranty that TruAudio provides, Crown-Harman only provides a 3-year warranty in parts and service for the CDi1000.

We truly recommend that, when you plan to purchase a swimming pool, ask your designer to include a sound system that withstands all types of weather conditions. Besides, your designer will know where to place the speakers and subwoofers, so they are discreetly placed in the landscaping and give you a wonderful sound that intertwines with your oasis.